Keenan Allen Fantasy Forecast, Darnell Wright vs. Paris Johnson, 68 Days, and Other Bears Bullets

Keenan Allen
Keenan Allen

I’m thankful for friendship, birthday wishes, and a re-charged battery. Let’s dance.

  • There are 68 days until the Chicago Bears lift the lid on their 2024 NFL regular season slate of games. Using Pro Football Reference’s Approximate Value metric, the most productive Bears player to wear No. 68 was defensive lineman Jim Osborne. A defensive tackle who played collegiately at Southern university, Osborne was a seventh-round pick (182nd overall) in the 1972 NFL Draft. He played the entirety of his career (186 games from 1972-84) with Chicago, and had three seasons with 10+ sacks — 1973, 1976, and 1979. Osborne seems to get lost in the shuffle when we discuss productive Bears defensive linemen. Maybe we should change that moving forward.
  • The Bears player I associate the No. 68 with is James Daniels. Drafted in the second round in 2018, Daniels played guard and center in Chicago. Daniels never settled into a spot for a variety of reasons (changing coaching philosophies, failed attemtps to find a comfort level with Mitch Trubisky, a revolving door at other positions that necessitated movves to other spots, etc.) while with the Bears. Since leaving Chicago, Daniels has continued to hold it down as a starting-caliber interior offensive lineman. If not for Teven Jenkins’ emergence at guard, I think I’d miss Daniels’ steady presence more. And if Nate Davis ever pieces it together, Daniels will be an afterthought in our offensive line discussions.
  • Here are some Keenan Allen highlights to help get you through the day:
  • ESPN’s fantasy forecast projects Allen to put up an 84-catch, 883-yards, 5-touchdown season. Do you think those projections are too high, too low, or just right?
  • Arizona Cardinals offensive lineman Paris Johnson Jr. is setting clear goals for the 2024 NFL season. “My goal ultimately is to be the best tackle in the game,” Johnson said Monday on NFL Network’s The Insiders (h/t NFL Media). Johnson, who turns 23 on Wednesday, was the Cardinals’ pick at No. 6 overall in the 2023 NFL Draft. But you might recall Johnson as someone whose name generated a ton of buzz in Bears circles leading up to the draft. Mel Kiper Jr.’s final mock draft had the Bears selecting Johnson. Heck, even Johnson thought there was a chance he’d take his talents to Chicago. Instead, he’ll play the Bears in Week 9.
  • 2024 CHICAGO BEARS OPPONENTS: Exhibition games | Regular season

  • Because you might be curious: Bears right tackle Darnell Wright was Pro Football Focus’ highest-graded rookie offensive tackle last season. Wright’s 62.4 grade edged Paris Johnson Jr.’s 60.1 grade. But I bet you didn’t know that Dawand Jones was PFF’s highest graded rookie tackle in 2023. The more you know!
  • bears Darnell wright
    (Photo by Todd Rosenberg/Getty Images)

  • Darnell Wright had the best run-blocking grade among rookie offensive tackles in his draft class. And if he can give that pass protection grade a boost, then I’ll feel good about the second-year breakout that looks to be on the horizon for the University of Tennessee product.
  • I think this is a bit of good news for football fans: NFL Sunday Ticket will be available for streaming at bars, restaurants, and other business starting this season. Previously, the only way to get Sunday Ticket (legally) was via satellite dish. (Pro Football Talk)
  • CHECK IT OUT: The Bleacher Nation Newsletter

  • Whoa! Teuvo Teravainen is back with the Chicago Blackhawks. If you’ll recall, Teuvo was with Chicago’s hockey team from 2013-16 before being traded to the Carolina Panthers Hurricanes, where he had his best seasons. Teravainen will playthe 2024-25 season at age 30, but he is coming off a 25-goal season. As someone who hasn’t closely followed hockey, I hope he’s still got something in the tank. (BN Blackhawks)
  • Over at BN Bulls, Eli serves up a reminder that breaking up the core isn’t easy. Reading through this immediately took my headspace back to where it was at the start of the Ryan Poles era. I think shaking things up and pressing the reset button is far easier in the NFL than it is in the NBA and it isn’t something we should take for granted as Bears fans. NBA teams looking to switch it up have a far more harrowing task than their NFL counterparts.
  • Speaking of breaking up, the Chicago Cubs might be sellers at the trade deadline. What a massive disappointment this baseball season has been (and not just because my fantasy team is also floundering).
  • written by

    Luis C. Medina, who you can find on Twitter at lcm1986, has been covering the Chicago Bears at Bleacher Nation since 2017. Since then, he has written about 3 head coaches, 5 play-callers, and 11 starting quarterbacks. Previously, Luis wrote about the Cubs and MLB at BN (2015-16) and worked in the Chicago Tribune sports department (2011-16). He also co-hosted a Cubs postgame show, Outside the Ivy, in 2019.

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